Iraq:

Bush's Plans For Puppet Regime

AFTER STRUGGLING to pronounce "Abu Ghraib" - the now notorious jail where
Iraqi prisoners were tortured by US forces - president George Bush announced
he would tear it down and build a new maximum security prison. That's
reconstruction, White House style!

However, the big news story from the president was that Iraq would obtain
"sovereignty" after 30 June, with elections for a 'transitional national
assembly' before 31 January 2005. This sovereignty will consist of an
unelected interim regime which, while advising a new UN-backed multinational
military force, won't actually enjoy 'full authority'.

In reality, life for most Iraqis won't change one jot after 30 June - at
least not for the better. The new government will remain a puppet of the US
and the 'Coalition' military forces on the ground will be answerable only to
their US and British commanders, beyond the reach of Iraq's laws. 130,000 US
troops and 9,000 British troops will remain 'until the job is done', ie
indefinitely.

Desperate

George Bush and Tony Blair, desperate to find an exit strategy from the
Iraq quagmire, hope to 'internationalise' the occupation through their draft
UN resolution.

The other imperialist powers on the security council, notably Russia,
France and Germany, want to clip their Anglo-Saxon rivals' wings but are
unlikely to send significant numbers of troops into the Iraq war zone.
Germany's Chancellor Schršder welcomed the resolution, whereas the French
government's proposal for setting a deadline for withdrawal was not included.

The UN secretariat, headed by Kofi Annan, is beholden to these major
powers. Having previously seen 50 of its staff, including High Commissioner
Sergio de Mello, blown up by Iraqi insurgents in Baghdad the UN is reluctant
to return to Iraq in any numbers unless the political situation has
stabilised.

Herein lies the dilemma for imperialism. The longer Iraqis are denied an
independent, democratic state with control over its own resources then armed
opposition to the occupation will grow, which in turn will prevent UN agencies
operating in the country. After all, look at what is happening in Afghanistan
(see box right).

Staying

But while Bush and Blair talk of staying in Iraq, despite increasing
attacks, their respective domestic electorates are becoming more opposed to
the occupation.

The grisly photos of Iraqis being tortured and humiliated and reports of
detainees being murdered at the hands of US and British forces is undermining
political support for the president and prime minister. So too is the growing
toll of nearly 800 dead US troops.

A recent CBS news poll says only 41% approved of the job Bush is doing
while 53% disapproved. 61% disapproved of his handling of the situation in
Iraq.

In Britain, according to The Guardian's ICM poll, 66% disapprove of sending
a further 3,000 troops to Iraq. And while 45% say UK troops should remain in
Iraq "as long as necessary", 35% (up 8% in one month) call for the immediate
withdrawal of US and British troops.

More analysis on Iraq and a socialist programme, see article by Peter
Taaffe in issue 343 of the socialist

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A Nation On The Edge Of Anarchy

THREE YEARS after the Taliban regime was overthrown by the US-backed
Northern Alliance Afghanistan, according to The Independent, "is a nation on
the edge of anarchy".

A Commons select committee report, to be published in July, says the
country's remaining infrastructure is shattered, opium production is rocketing
and the Taliban and warlords are back in control of large areas.

Aid agencies cannot function outside the capital Kabul due to attacks on
their staff and elections for a national assembly, originally scheduled for
June, have been postponed.

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Abu Ghraib Allegations

AN ARTICLE in The Washington Post accuses Lieutenant General Ricardo S
Sanchez, the top US general in Iraq, of being at Baghdad's notorious Abu
Ghraib prison while Iraqi detainees were being abused and tortured during
interrogation.

The military tops deny it, of course. If such claims were proved correct it
would show up their 'rotten apple' line - that the maltreatment of Abu Ghraib
prisoners was the independent work of a few military police guards - as
nonsense.

The article says that Sanchez issued an order last October giving military
intelligence control over almost every aspect of prison conditions. The open
aim was to manipulate the detainees' "emotions and weaknesses."

More details have emerged of how far abuse of detainees has gone, which
include an army translator raping a teenage Iraqi boy. Every week, these
allegations are more and more clearly linked to the very top of the occupation
forces.

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Chalabi's Fall

HOW THE mighty are fallen. Not so long ago Iraqi National Congress (INC)
leader Ahmad Chalabi was the darling of the Pentagon. The convicted fraudster
had provided the US administration with 'evidence' that Saddam Hussein
possessed weapons of mass destruction - the supposed basis for war against
Iraq.

This of course turned out to be false but it did secure Chalabi a pot of
gold from Washington ($335,000 a month) and a place on the stooge Iraq
Governing Council.

But last week came a parting of the ways. His office was raided by
coalition forces who now suspect that Chalabi was passing US state secrets
(apparently given to the INC by US officials) to a member of the 'axis of
evil', Iran.